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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28137981">Christmas Spirit</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sergeant_Sporks/pseuds/Sergeant_Sporks'>Sergeant_Sporks</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Small Stories from the Big Apple [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Wizards: Tales of Arcadia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas, Christmas carol, Fluff, Gen, Ghosts, Magic, Oneshot, douxie really likes christmas, douxie sings christmas carols really loudly and you can't convince me otherwise, fluff as far as the eye can see, literally there is no angst just fluff, nari is a precious bean</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:20:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,413</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28137981</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sergeant_Sporks/pseuds/Sergeant_Sporks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Douxie is shocked to learn that Nari doesn't know what Christmas is, and tries to teach her. Nari, in the meantime, tries to make his Christmas as special as possible, while at the same time trying to track down a ghost that only she can see.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Small Stories from the Big Apple [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050809</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Christmas Spirit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This one isn't exactly part of the series? Nothing that happens here will probably have any effect on the other parts.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“IIIIIIII’m dreaaaming of a whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite Chriiiiistmaaaaas,” Douxie sang loudly as he came through the door.</p><p>“No, thank you, it’s cold enough,” Archie replied, his head poking out of a blanket, “I miss California.”</p><p>Nari looked at Douxie and giggled. He was wearing some odd hat, red with white trim and with a fluffy white ball on the end of it. “What is that?”</p><p>“This, my foresty little friend, is a Santa hat!”</p><p>“A… Santa hat?”</p><p>Douxie batted at the white ball. “You know. Because it’s almost Christmas.”</p><p>Nari tilted her head at him. “What is… Christ-mas?”</p><p>Douxie gasped like she’d physically hurt him. “What’s <em>Christmas</em>?! Christmas is—it’s—it’s one of my favorite holidays!”</p><p>“I thought Halloween was your favorite,” Archie remarked dryly from under his blanket.</p><p>“It is! But Christmas is <em>also</em> my favorite! I have more than one favorite—I like Halloween, and Christmas, and—mmmm, no, I’m not fond of Thanksgiving, for some reason.”</p><p>“But what <em>is</em> it?” Nari asked again.</p><p>Douxie “hm”ed thoughtfully. “Well, see, it’s sort of a religious holiday, but also not, because a LOT of people celebrate it for the not-religious stuff. Christmas is to celebrate good stuff, like being nice, and peace and joy and all that.”</p><p>“It’s a holiday to celebrate hanging witches,” Archie muttered.</p><p>“Archie. Let. Salem. Go.” Douxie shook his head. “Nari, Merlin has done you a horrible wrong in not telling you about Christmas, but luckily, I can fix that! We are going to watch Christmas movies until our heads burst open, and you can sing any Christmas carol with me!”</p><p>“It sounds nice,” Nari admitted, “Peace and joy, like you said.”</p><p>Douxie pointed one finger at her. “Exactly. So, first step to Christmas, decorations. A tree isn’t really possible, but…” he rifled through a bag and pulled out paper and scissors. “We’re going to make paper snowflakes!”</p><p>Nari watched as he folded a piece of paper up and cut holes in it, then opened it to reveal… well, a paper with holes in it. Nari supposed it looked a <em>little</em> bit like a snowflake. But it seemed to make Douxie happy, and he put on music with a lot of bells in it.</p><p>“You’ve never done ANYTHING Christmas-y?” Douxie asked, “You never celebrated the winter in any way?”</p><p>Nari thought back. “On the winter solstice, Skrael would make a blizzard and fill our cave with snow. Bellroc hated it, though, and always melted it all.”</p><p>“That’s… a start…”</p><p>A woman started singing in the music, and Archie groaned from under the blanket. “Oh, no.”</p><p>Douxie’s eyes lit up, and he started to sing along. “All I want for Chriiiiiistmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas,” he sang, “Iiiiis, youououououo,”</p><p>“Someone stop him,” Archie groaned.</p><p>Douxie bobbed his head in time with the music. “Bum buh bum buh, buh, buh,”</p><p>Nari laughed as he summoned a microphone, singing the song into it. Whatever Christmas was, it apparently put Douxie in a very good mood.</p><p>Their neighbor started pounding on the walls, yelling for Douxie to stop his howling. Douxie ignored him, hitting a <em>very</em> high note that Nari was surprised didn’t make his voice crack.</p><p>There was a knock on the door, and Douxie answered it to see their grumpy neighbor. “Merry Christmas,” he said cheerfully.</p><p>“It’s still a week to Christmas, and I’d have a merrier one if you wouldn’t PLAY YOUR MUSIC SO LOUD I CAN’T HEAR MYSELF THINK!”</p><p>Douxie grinned. “Peace and joy, my friend.”</p><p>Their neighbor turned heel. “Gah!”</p><p>Douxie shut the door. “Now <em>he</em>, Nari,” he said very seriously, “is what we might call a ‘Scrooge.’ A Scrooge is someone who hates Christmas.”</p><p>Nari nodded, filing the information away in her memory. “Why are they called that?” she asked.</p><p>“Ah! Well, you see, that shall be explained by the first movie I’m going to show you.” He grabbed his phone. “Who wants to watch a Christmas Carol?”</p><p>Xxx</p><p>“But I do not <em>understand</em>,” Nari protested, “Who <em>sent</em> the ghosts?”</p><p>Douxie yawned, a pile of paper snowflakes next to him. “No one, Nari. They just showed up.”</p><p>“Do they have a ghost order? Do they visit all scrooges, or just this one? It does not seem fair that they did not warn Marley, but they warned Scrooge.”</p><p>Douxie stretched. “Maybe they did, but he thought it was a dream.”</p><p>“And why would the nephew invite him over if they were just going to make fun of him at dinner?”</p><p>“They weren’t going to do that if he showed up. But he acted like, well, Scrooge, so they did it.”</p><p>Nari gave him big, worried eyes. “Does that mean that our neighbor will be consigned to eternal torment as a ghost, carrying weights around, if he does not become nicer?”</p><p>“It’s just a story, Nari,” Archie replied sleepily, “It’s not real. Ghosts don’t exist.”</p><p>Douxie raised a hand. “I can vouch that when people die, there’s a whole afterlife thing. They don’t stick around. 'Cept me.” He yawned again. “Okay, time for bed. Nari?”</p><p>She shook her head. “I will stay up a little later. You go to sleep.”</p><p>Douxie shrugged, flipping off the lights. “Suit yourself.”</p><p>Nari waited for them to go to sleep, then climbed out onto the fire escape, making her way to the roof. She shivered in the cold. It reminded her of Skrael’s blizzards, and she felt… something. They’d laughed together. Laughed even harder when Bellroc melted it all. Her siblings were not in the right—she knew that. They were doing horrible, <em>horrible</em> things. But… she couldn’t help thinking that they weren’t all bad. They’d had some fun times together.</p><p>Nari blinked. There was some kind of light in front of her—a small, blue orb. She reached out for it, and it darted away with a tinkling laugh. Nari frowned, reaching for it again. It danced away again.</p><p>“What <em>are</em> you?” she asked it.</p><p>It didn’t reply, zooming away with that laugh. Nari hesitated, glancing back towards the apartment, and then followed it, bounding across rooftops.</p><p>“Come back!”</p><p>The orb stopped, hovering above a gap between buildings. Nari watched it carefully, then jumped, swiping for it as she flew through the air. It split, and her hand went right through it. She crashed into the fire escape of the other building and clutched onto it. “Hey!” she yelped, scrambling up.</p><p>The orb laughed again, floating through a window and disappearing.</p><p>The window right next to Nari opened, and a tiny human child gawped at her. “Are you what happens if an elf and a reindeer have a baby?” she asked breathlessly.</p><p>Nari blinked, unsure if she should jump away or not. “Am I a what?”</p><p>“An elf and reindeer baby,” she repeated, “Are you from the North Pole? Do you know Santa?”</p><p>Santa! She’d heard that word, referring to Douxie’s hat! “Tell me about San-ta,” she said, settling down on the fire escape.</p><p>“Big guy in red! He has elves that make presents for him, and a team of flying reindeer that pull his sled around so he can deliver the presents to all the good kids! The bad ones get coal, though. And he comes down the chimney!”</p><p>“Down the chimney? But I thought you said he was big—how does he get down the chimney?”</p><p>The little girl laughed. “Magic!”</p><p>So, Santa was a wizard of some kind. A shadowmancer, from the sound of it, able to get down chimneys with a portal. But flying reindeer… where would he even get those? Perhaps they were shapeshifters like Archie? Or maybe Santa just made everything float, and the reindeer were for show.</p><p>“So… <em>do</em> you know Santa? Can you tell him I’ve been really good this year?”</p><p>Nari got up. “Have you? You’re up very late.”</p><p>“I have! Extra special! I just heard you hit the fire escape and had to see who it was! I go to bed on time, I promise!”</p><p>Nari sprang into the air, flying. The little girl gaped. “I will tell him,” she promised, “But you cannot tell your parents about me.”</p><p>“Will you stop existing if I do?” the little girl asked worriedly, “Or not be able to fly? I’ll keep your secret, reindeer elf! I promise!”</p><p>Nari flew back through the air to her own apartment, climbing down the fire escape to see Archie sneaking back in the window.</p><p>“What are you doing up?” she asked.</p><p>“I could ask the same,” he answered, “I won’t snoop if you won’t?</p><p>Nari nodded, and they both climbed back into the window. Nari floated back to her mattress, much more important things on her mind than whatever Archie had been up to.</p><p>What was that orb? Was it friend, or foe?</p><p>Xxx</p><p>“Archie, why would Douxie want a tree?</p><p>Archie poked his head out from under the blanket he’d taken to hiding under ever since it had gotten cold. “It’s a pine tree that humans decorate with lights and ornaments. It’s one of their Christmas traditions.”</p><p>“Oh.” Nari slipped her hat and jacket on. “I’ll be right back.”</p><p>“Ah, wait, I’ll come with you.”</p><p>“You don’t have to. I know you don’t like the cold.”</p><p>Archie slipped out of the blanket, leaping up onto her shoulders. “No, no. I’ll be alright. Really. Where are we going?”</p><p>“I want to find a bucket,” she replied, “A big one.”</p><p>They ventured outside, and Nari wandered the streets, looking for a bucket of some kind. Eventually she found one, a round metal container that had probably been thrown out because of the dent in it. She and Archie lugged it back home—earning a lot of stares.</p><p>They got the bucket up the stairs, and Archie asked “What do you want that for?”</p><p>Nari’s hands sparked with magic, and the bucket filled with dirt. She touched the dirt gently and coaxed up a tiny tree that grew until it was about as tall as she was. A lovely pine.</p><p>“We can have a tree, now! And after Christmas, we can plant it in the park!”</p><p>“Oh! I’m sure Douxie will be very happy—he used to have a fake tree that he’d put up. It lost a lot of its needles over time, but he put it up every year.” Archie dived back under his blankets. “Thank you, Nari. I know that you don’t exactly understand Christmas, but you’re getting into the spirit quite well.”</p><p>Spirit. Oh. Oh! “Archie?” Nari asked cautiously.</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“I think our apartment is haunted.”</p><p>“There’s no such thing as ghosts, Nari.”</p><p>“I think I saw one. It was a floating orb.”</p><p>“Probably just a stray bit of magic. Douxie’s getting very good at spells, but they still go rogue occasionally.”</p><p>“It <em>laughed</em>.”</p><p>“Have you seen it since?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“If you see it again, tell me or Douxie. If not, then it was probably just a stray spell.”</p><p>Nari sighed, watching out the window. Then she saw it—the little blue light. It floated in front of the window, glowing. Nari glanced back at Archie, who seemed completely occupied with not coming out of the blanket. She opened the window.</p><p>“Are you a ghost?”</p><p>It laughed, darting away. Nari put her hat and coat on and climbed out the window. “Come on, just talk to me! Did Bellroc and Skrael send you?”</p><p>It continued on its merry way, and Nari followed it over rooftops again, clambering down a fire escape as it darted into a crowd. She slipped around people, chasing the blue light that no one else seemed able to see, until it disappeared.</p><p>“No!”</p><p>A few people stopped to give her odd looks, but then went on their ways. Nari shivered, glancing around. Times Square. Why would it want her go come… Nari gaped. In the middle of the square was a MASSIVE tree, covered with lights and brightly colored spheres. So <em>that</em> was what Archie meant by decorating with lights and ornaments.</p><p>“First time seeing the tree, dear?”</p><p>Nari whirled around to see an old woman squinting at her. “It is. It’s beautiful. Though it is a shame that they cut down such a large and majestic tree.”</p><p>The old woman sighed. “It would have been a lovely tree in it’s home forest, yes.” She gave Nari a friendly smile. “Your antlers are very cute.”</p><p>Nari reached up to touch her antlers. They’d gotten a lot of stares before, but apparently having antlers was okay if it was close to Christmas. She nodded her thanks and darted away. What was with that ghost?! First the little boy, now the giant tree. She made her way back to the apartment, slipping back in.</p><p>“Archie?”</p><p>“Mm?”</p><p>Nari hesitated. If she told him about the ghost, would he believe her? She should have told him the instant it had appeared. But would he have been able to see it? No one in the square seemed to be able to. “I’m going to decorate the tree,” she said finally.</p><p>“Lovely.”</p><p>Nari grew a large red flower in her hands, making its stem and roots twirl around the tree branches to stick there. She started to grow another one. She didn’t have any ornaments, but maybe she didn’t need any.</p><p>Xxx</p><p>Douxie managed to unlock the apartment, then halted in surprise. In the corner of the apartment was a metal bucket with a tiny Christmas tree in it. Tiny magical lights twinkled in its branches, and big red flowers decorated it.</p><p>“Nari?” he asked.</p><p>“It is a Christmas tree!” she responded.</p><p>Douxie felt tears push at the corners of his eyes, and he wiped them away, a smile spreading across his face.</p><p>“Did I do it wrong?”</p><p>Douxie grabbed her in a hug, surprising both of them. “It’s <em>perfect</em>.”</p><p>Xxx</p><p>The next time Nari saw the little ghost, she didn’t try to catch it. She simply grabbed her hat and coat, hopped out of the window and said “Where are you taking me this time?”</p><p>The light led her through the streets to a tiny shop. Nari frowned. What did it want her to do here? She pushed open the door, and a bell tingled. It was a tiny store for guitars. The person at the counter, a man who looked to be maybe in his thirties, looked up.</p><p>“Hey, there. What can I help you with?”</p><p>Nari hesitated. “Um…”</p><p>“Are you here for a Christmas gift?”</p><p>“Ah…” A gift—people gave presents specifically on Christmas? Hm. Douxie hadn’t mentioned that. Maybe he didn’t know about this tradition? That didn’t seem likely, though, he seemed to know everything about Christmas.</p><p>“Alright, you’re not sure what you want? Do you know what kind of guitar you’re looking for?”</p><p>“Um… a normal kind?”</p><p>The man laughed. “Alright, alright, let me see.” He pulled a wooden guitar off of a rack. “What do you think of this one? Yamaha guitar, pretty basic.”</p><p>Nari gingerly took the guitar, examining it carefully. She strummed the strings. It sounded different than Douxie’s guitar. Hm. It was made of wood… She handed the guitar back to the man. “What else do you need for a guitar?”</p><p>“A pick, for some people—some people prefer to just use their hands. Who are you shopping for?”</p><p>“A friend,” she said softly.</p><p>“A friend, great. Do you know what he likes?”</p><p>“He already has this guitar—it’s flatter, though. It makes a different noise.”</p><p>“An electric one, I bet. We have those, too, but if he already has a good one, maybe consider a traditional guitar?”</p><p>Nari nodded. “Thank you, I’ll think about it. You’ve been very helpful, thank you!”</p><p>“You’re welcome. Stop by anytime, I’m rarely busy.”</p><p>Nari hurried back to their apartment. Archie poked his head out. “You’ve been spending a lot of time out on the roof lately.”</p><p>Nari felt a little bit bad about not telling the familiar where she was going, but what was she supposed to say, that she was following a ghost that Archie didn’t think existed?  She sat down, concentrating on wood growing between her hands. “Archie, what’s a white Christmas?”</p><p>“Oh, it’s when there’s snow on Christmas. What are you doing?”</p><p>Nari thought hard of the shape of the guitar that the man at the shop had showed her, and the wood that was growing obeyed, taking on its hollow base and long stem. “I’m making a guitar!”</p><p>Archie raised his eyebrows, but didn’t comment, ducking back under his blanket. “If it’s for who I think it’s for, don’t let him see it. Presents are supposed to be a surprise.”</p><p>Nari hid the guitar under her blankets.</p><p>Xxx</p><p>The orb didn’t show up the next day, and Nari glanced around for Archie, spotted him under his blanket, grabbed the base of the guitar that she’d made, and climbed out the window again, making her way back to the guitar store. It was empty again—only the man from before there. He smiled when he saw her.</p><p>“Hey, there. What can I help you with?”</p><p>Nari showed him the base she’d made. “Did I do this right?”</p><p>The man whistled as he took it from her. “You made this?”</p><p>Nari nodded.</p><p>“Color me impressed.” He turned it over gently in his hands, examining it. “That’s pretty good. But where are your tuners?”</p><p>“My what?”</p><p>He set the guitar on the counter and got the guitar from yesterday down. “The little knobs, see? You use them to tune the guitar.” He plucked a string, then turned one of the corresponding knobs. The sound the guitar was making changed pitch. “You’ll need them.”</p><p>“Oh…”</p><p>He smiled. “No big deal, you might just have to replace your headstock. The rest of the guitar looks fine. So, are you a woodworker, then?”</p><p>“Sort of.”</p><p>“Your friend is really lucky. Making a guitar is a lot of work for you to do.”</p><p>Nari ducked her head. “I… don’t really have the money to buy him one, so I figured I could make him one, instead.”</p><p>“That’s sweet of you.”</p><p>Nari tilted her head at the man. “If no one ever comes here, then why do you stay?”</p><p>The man shrugged. “The owner is a good friend, and I’ve always loved music. Guitars, especially. I was probably a lot like your friend when I was younger.”</p><p>Nari doubted that anyone could be a lot like Douxie, but she understood what he meant. “What’s your name?”</p><p>“Kevin. You?”</p><p>“Nari.”</p><p>“That’s an interesting name. You interested in music, Nari?”</p><p>“I… I like when my friend plays.”</p><p>Kevin picked up the guitar from his shop, plucking a few of the strings, then strumming a chord. “Music brings people together, you know? If your friend has a talent, then he should go use it. I always regretted not taking my shot to go on tour. I decided to buckle down, go to college, instead. But I still came here, back to music.”</p><p>Nari felt a little seed of guilt in her stomach. Douxie wouldn’t ever be able to do that—not as long as the arcane order was chasing them. “I’ll tell him,” she promised, “Thank you, Kevin.”</p><p>“No problem, Nari. You’re the most interesting thing in my day. Don’t hesitate to drop by if you need more help with your present.”</p><p>Nari carried her guitar back to the apartment, concentrating on the wood again, and the mechanism of the tuners that Kevin had showed her. The wood stretched and grew, forming the tuners. Nari grinned. Now all she needed was a set of strings. And a way to get a white Christmas.</p><p>Xxx</p><p>Nari took a deep breath as she walked into Kevin’s shop. “Kevin? I was wondering if there was anything I can do around here to help you to maybe… earn a set of strings? It’s the only part of the guitar that I can’t make, and—”</p><p>Kevin held up a hand. “Whoa, there Nari. Slow down. What is it you need?”</p><p>“Just a set of strings,” she said softly, holding out the nearly-complete guitar, “I can’t make those.”</p><p>Kevin took the guitar, turning it over, checking all of the parts, turning the tuners. “You’ve done a really good job with this.”</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p>Kevin ran one hand over the guitar. “Let me get you those strings. C’mon, I’ll put them on for you.”</p><p>Nari blinked. “But what about—”</p><p>“Ah, tis the season for giving, and all that.” Kevin paid for the strings himself, tucking the receipt in his pocket, “Besides, even if you haven’t bought anything, you’re still my favorite customer so far. Anyone else who comes in here is usually just looking to get a guitar and go.” He grinned at her. “Just promise you’ll drop by sometimes, even if you don’t need any guitar stuff?”</p><p>Nari felt herself grin back. “I would love to.”</p><p>Kevin strung the guitar, tuning it and giving it a strum. “You’ve made a lovely guitar, Nari.”</p><p>“Thank you so much!” A wisp of glowing blue caught Nari’s attention outside of the store, and she took her guitar back, slinging the strap over her shoulder. “I have to go, but I promise I’ll come back for visits!”</p><p>“Merry Christmas, Nari. I hope your friend knows how lucky he is to have you.”</p><p>“Merry Christmas,” Nari responded, “And I think I’m luckier to have him.”</p><p>She went outside, where the orb was waiting for her. “What is it? Christmas is tomorrow, what else can you show me?”</p><p>The orb laughed, and darted away. Nari gave chase, following it all the way out of town. A worried feeling rose up in the pit of her stomach—should she be going this far? What if Archie figured out she wasn’t on the roof and freaked out? Even worse, what if Douxie came home and she wasn’t there?!</p><p>The orb disappeared, and Nari spun in a circle. “Wait! Where did you go?! There’s nothing here!”</p><p>“Nari?”</p><p>Nari’s eyes widened, and she whirled around to see Skrael. “Did you send the orb?!” she demanded.</p><p>“What orb? I’m as surprised as you are. Did you finally come to your senses?”</p><p>Something clicked in Nari’s mind. Oh—<em>that</em> was why the orb had led her here! “Skrael? Can you do something for me?”</p><p>“Are you going to come with me?”</p><p>“No, I’m not. Where’s Bellroc?”</p><p>“Looking for you.”</p><p>Nari grabbed Skrael’s hands, which were as cold as ever. He’d always been nicer than Bellroc, had a sense of humor. “Skrael, can you make it snow for me tomorrow?”</p><p>Skrael frowned. “Pardon?”</p><p>“Can you make it snow tomorrow,” Nari repeated, “I—I need snow tomorrow.”</p><p>“Nari, you’re being ridiculous.”</p><p>“Remember when you used to fill the cave with snow on the winter solstice?” Nari pleaded, “And then Bellroc would melt it all? That was fun!”</p><p>“If you come back with us, we can do it again,” Skrael said softly, “Come back to us, Nari.”</p><p>Nari shook her head. “I can’t, Skrael. Does Bellroc know where we are right now?”</p><p>Skrael shook his head. “We know you’re in the city. We don’t know where.”</p><p>That was good. “Please, Skrael. Make it snow for me, tomorrow?”</p><p>Skrael’s eyes darted over to the guitar that she’d slung over her back. “That wizard has gotten to you,” he said.</p><p>“Please Skrael? For me? I won’t ask you for anything ever again.”</p><p>Skrael heaved a sigh. “Fine. Snow tomorrow. Bellroc can never know we had this conversation. They’d have my head if they knew I let you go.”</p><p>“Thank you, Skrael!”</p><p>“Enjoy your snow, Nari. It’s only a matter of time before we find where you are, and we’ll kill your precious wizard and bring you home with us.”</p><p>But for today, they had truce, and Skrael would give her a white Christmas. “Merry Christmas, Skrael.” That was what Kevin had said—and it seemed to be common. Skrael just shook his head.</p><p>Nari made her way back to the apartment, constantly checking to make sure that Skrael wasn’t following her. She met Archie in the streets, and she was relatively certain that if there hadn’t been people around, he would have been giving her a lecture. He managed to restrain himself until they got to the apartment.</p><p>“Where <em>were</em> you?!” He burst out, “I couldn’t find you!”</p><p>Nari ducked her head. “I… I went to go get strings for the guitar.”</p><p>“You should have told me so I could go with you!”</p><p>And it was a good thing that she hadn’t, because otherwise, she never would have been able to follow the ghost. “I’m sorry. Please don’t tell Douxie. I do not want him to worry.”</p><p>Archie shook his head. “I won’t, but don’t do something like that again, okay?”</p><p>“Okay.” Nari grinned as she hid the guitar under her blanket again. It had been worth it.</p><p>Xxx</p><p>Nari barely managed to sleep at all and woke up early on Christmas. Douxie was still snoring away, and she decided to leave him—Christmas had happened to fall on his off day, and she wasn’t going to wake him up early on the one day he had to sleep. She blinked. At the window, hanging from the frame, were three red giant socks labelled with their names that seemed to be full of chocolates and candy canes. The paper snowflakes that Douxie had never had any time to do anything with were tied in garlands and hanging from the walls.</p><p>“Ho, ho, ho,” Archie said softly, swooping down next to her, “What do you think of Santa’s work?”</p><p>“How…?”</p><p>Archie pushed his glasses up his nose. “You weren’t the only one getting into the spirit. Did you know that the amount of money that people drop in one day in New York is absolutely astounding? And the magpies and crows—don’t get me <em>started</em> on what you can find in a bird’s nest. I might start helping pay the rent, if Douxie will let me.”</p><p>Nari laughed. “That’s what you were sneaking out for that night?”</p><p>“Guilty.”</p><p>“And hiding in your blanket all day—you were actually sneaking out all of the time, and hiding what you got under there?”</p><p>“Certainly. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a tree or anything, but you seemed to handle that pretty well on your own.”</p><p>Something fell past the window, and Nari raced to see what it was. Fat, white snowflakes were drifting from the sky. Skrael had kept his promise.</p><p>Archie peered out the window. “What the… the weather predicted a sunny day with no snow!”</p><p>Nari laughed again. “White Christmas,” she said simply.</p><p>Archie narrowed his eyes at her. “Why do I feel like you had something to do with this?”</p><p>Nari widened her eyes. “How could I do something like this? You know that I don’t have snow powers.”</p><p>“Hm.”</p><p>They sat together for a while, watching the snowflakes drift past the window until the sun rose over the horizon, sending sunlight streaming into the window.</p><p>Douxie yawned behind them, and Nari and Archie whirled around as he sat up.</p><p>“Merry Christmas!” They both told him.</p><p>Douxie blinked, taking in the stockings, and the paper snowflakes, and the real ones drifting down outside. He looked like he might start crying again, and he swallowed hard.</p><p>“Merry Christmas, guys,” he managed, his voice thick. He stared out the window. “I thought the forecast said that there wouldn’t be any snow?!”</p><p>Archie jumped over to him, nudging his arm. “Let’s go out! Stockings can come later, who knows if the snow will last?”</p><p>Nari, in fact, knew for certain that it would last all day, but she grinned, cramming her hat and coat on and racing Douxie and Archie out into the street. A bunch of kids were already out, throwing snow at each other. The streets were completely indistinguishable from the sidewalks, there was so much snow. It didn’t look like anyone would be driving anywhere for a while. Douxie laughed, flopping backwards, and waving his arms and legs around and leaving an imprint in the snow. “Snow angel!”</p><p>Nari copied him, but her own imprint had distinct horn marks at the top. “Oops.”</p><p>“It’s perfect,” Douxie told her. He was rolling snow up into a big ball. “C’mon, Arch, little help?”</p><p>“I don’t have opposable thumbs,” Archie reminded him. Nari grinned, rolling up another ball that Douxie stacked up on top of his bigger one. It was now about up to Nari’s horns, and Douxie picked her up so that she could put another ball on the top. Douxie glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then waved his hand. Coal appeared out of nowhere, making eyes and a smiley face.</p><p>Then Douxie went sprawling, facedown in the snow, snow splattered across his head. The kids across the street shrieked as he got up, pushing one of their own into the snow and yelling about teenagers. Douxie grabbed a handful of snow, packed it into a ball, and lobbed it right back across the street with a grin.</p><p>“Is it a war you want?” he called.</p><p>There was more shrieking and laughing, and the kids took accepted declaration of war, pelting Douxie with snowballs. Nari scooped up some of her own, defending him. Douxie went down under the onslaught, laughing.</p><p>“Ack! Nari! Avenge me!”</p><p>A lot of snow fell down from the fire escape, falling right on top of Nari, Douxie, and all of the kids, completely burying Douxie. The kids shrieked with delight, and Nari looked up to see Archie on the fire escape, looking very pleased with himself.</p><p>Douxie sat up, popping out of his icy burial and spitting out snow. “Arch!” he protested.</p><p>Archie purred in response, and shook snow off of himself right on top of Douxie.</p><p>They stayed outside until their hands went numb and the kids were called inside by their various parents. Douxie stopped at the door, laughing breathlessly. He brushed snow out of his hair and stamped his feet, lightly brushing drifts of snow off of Nari’s antlers.</p><p>Archie shook himself, and they went back inside, hit by a wave of warmth. Douxie plopped down on the floor, still laughing.</p><p>“Wow,” he panted, “I haven’t gone in snow since… for a while.”</p><p>“Salem,” Archie remarked.</p><p>“No, since then, Arch, we were not in Salem that long.”</p><p>Nari ran and grabbed their stockings. “Santa,” she said wisely, with a grin and a glance at Archie.</p><p>Douxie looked around in mock surprise. “And how in Mordrax’s miracles did Santa get in without a chimney?”</p><p>“Santa is a shadowmancer,” Nari said very seriously, “He portaled in.”</p><p>“Ah. Of course.”</p><p>Archie rubbed against Douxie’s leg with a purr, and Douxie stroked him, eating a piece of chocolate out of his stocking. Nari went back to her mattress, and picked up the blanket-wrapped guitar, as well as a small bucket that was filled with dirt.</p><p>“Presents!” she handed the guitar to Douxie, and set the bucket in front of Archie, snapping her finger. Catnip sprang up in the bucket. Archie purred.</p><p>“You certainly know how to Christmas shop, Nari.”</p><p>Douxie slowly unwrapped the guitar, shaking his head. “Oh, Nari… it’s beautiful, thank you, you didn’t have to—”</p><p>“I made it. Kevin helped.”</p><p>“Who’s Kevin?”</p><p>“A very nice guitar player. He said that if you love music, you should use it.”</p><p>Douxie ran a hand over the guitar, gently plucking a couple of the strings. “Nari, I don’t have anything for—”</p><p>“You don’t have to,” she said simply, “You take care of us all year—we can make one day special.” She settled down on the floor across from him. “Play for us?”</p><p>Douxie dragged a chair over, propping the guitar up on one knee and gently strumming. “Iiiiii’m dreaaaming, of a whiiiiiite Chriiistmaaaas,” he sang gently, playing the guitar, “Just like the ooones I uused to knooowww. Where the treeetoops glisten… and chiiiildreeen listen… to heeaar… sleigh bells… in the snoooow.”</p><p>Behind Douxie, a small blue orb appeared, then lengthened and stretched into some genderless, ageless creature with a head of flames. It smiled at Nari, then faded away, leaving a slight jingling noise behind.</p><p>Archie snuggled next to Nari, still as he listened to Douxie played and sang. “Merry Christmas, Nari,” he whispered.</p><p>Nari sighed softly, a small, content smile on her face. She couldn’t remember being this happy before—Skrael was right, Douxie <em>was</em> rubbing off on her. And she wouldn’t trade it for the world. “Merry Christmas.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Merry Christmas, y'all.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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